Something Permanent
by Disney Sorceress
Summary: Annabeth always wanted to build something permanent. A series of oneshots on how Percy and Annabeth deal with being separated, followed by my take on how some scenes in MoA will go.
1. Each Other's Worst Nightmare

**_Piper and Annabeth have an unexpected heart to heart about the boys they love._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or any of his friends._**

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><p>Piper wasn't sleeping well these days.<p>

There were the normal demigod dreams, of course, filled with monsters and omens and darkness, but she was getting used to those. She'd been dealing with bad dreams all of her life. It wasn't even the stress she was feeling, though the air at camp was saturated with it.

Leo and the Hephaestus cabin spent every waking hour working on that stupid warship. They'd run into every problem in the book, but it was still getting closer to completion every day, which meant that it was a matter of weeks before Piper and her friends would be sailing for California and a hostile camp of Romans. That would have been enough to deal with alone, if it weren't for Jason himself.

She and Jason had spent a lot of time together the past for months—training, talking, trying to help Leo and getting yelled at for it—and Piper was now convinced of two things: first, that Jason was possibly the most amazing guy she'd ever known, and second, that somewhere along the way Jason had remembered a girl from that other camp. He wouldn't talk about it with her, which made her even more certain that he'd left someone behind.

The Romans were going to take him away.

That was the real problem. The idea of going there, of returning him to his former life where she didn't exist, made her sick to her stomach. She'd lie awake for hours, running possibilities through her head and trying to squelch the horrible feeling that there wasn't room for Piper McLean in Jason Grace's life.

Wide awake just before dawn, Piper threw off her covers. She obviously wasn't going to be getting any more sleep, so she might as well get up; go for a walk; clear her head. She pulled on her boots and a jacket as quietly as possible before heading out into the predawn mist.

It was quiet this early in the morning, which was slightly unnerving. Most of the time camp was nothing but noise. Piper stepped lightly, her hands jammed in her pockets and her thoughts trying to go everywhere at once. She'd made it halfway around the cabins when the stillness was broken by another camper stepping outside.

Piper watched as Annabeth Chase hugged herself in the chilly air. The older girl stood still for only a moment—long enough for Piper to think she saw tears on her face—before setting out in the opposite direction, towards the beach.

For the briefest of moments, Piper was able to forget about her own problems. Annabeth Chase was not someone you expected to lose control, even when she was alone. The girl was tough, almost inhumanly logical and composed. Newer campers had placed bets on whether or not the girl had ever cried.

But that was dumb, Piper realized. Annabeth didn't like showing those intense emotions, but that didn't mean she never felt them. Her boyfriend had been missing for over half a year now, and everyone in camp knew how close they'd been. It was probably even worse, knowing where he was now and not being able to do anything about it. Grover checked in often, but never with anything new, and Tyson had been unable to pick up Percy's scent, even with Jason's suggestions.

All in all, Piper couldn't blame her for crying. Annabeth hated feeling helpless and she missed her boyfriend. Piper could understand not being allowed to be with the one you loved, probably better than anyone.

A moment of indecision was all it took before Piper headed for the beach herself. As much as Annabeth hated showing weakness to anyone, Piper thought she could probably use a friend even more.

She found the daughter of Athena standing ankle-deep in the surf, staring at the horizon as the waves washed over her feet.

"Annabeth."

The girl turned slightly, long enough to ascertain who had snuck up on her. "Piper." She turned back to the ocean, wiping at her face as inconspicuously as possible. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was taking a walk when I saw you come out."

"It's kind of early for a walk."

"And yet here we both are." Piper crossed the sand, coming to stand next to Annabeth in the oncoming tide. "I couldn't sleep."

"That's two of us," Annabeth sighed. "That dumb ship can't be done soon enough."

This was exactly the opposite of how Piper felt, but she wisely kept that to herself for the moment. "It shouldn't be too long now. Leo said another week, maybe two. But…I guess after eight months, that doesn't mean much."

Annabeth shook her head. "He's everywhere, Piper. He's like the life of this camp. Everywhere I look…Cabin Three, the lake, the forest, the Fleece…he's had his hands in all of it. Camp Half-Blood is what it is because of Percy Jackson. It's…it's not right when he isn't here."

"I can't even begin to imagine,' Piper said quietly. "I see what you're going through, how you force yourself to function. Athena has won capture the flag for what, the past eight weeks?"

"Nine."

"Exactly my point. You're the strongest person I know, Annabeth. I can't even think…if it had been Jason… Well, I lost a fake relationship and it almost killed me."

"You're probably not looking forward to the warship being finished," Annabeth said, turning to look at Piper at last.

"Not really. I understand why it needs to be done, but I can't help feeling that I have a lot to lose to that Roman Camp."

Annabeth looked at Piper shrewdly, making the younger girl feel like she was being x-rayed and evaluated. "I'm sorry," she said at last.

Piper shrugged. "You don't have to apologize to me. If anyone's to blame here, it's Hera." Annabeth snorted her agreement, but she didn't say anything so Piper went on. "Still… My life wasn't that great before Jason fell out of the sky. I can't bring myself to wish that this had never happened, even if it does mean losing him."

"I don't know that you have much to be worried about, to be honest."

Piper couldn't help a small smile. "Thanks, but I think he left someone behind."

"He left a lot of people behind, and he's remembered them all now. It hasn't changed how he looks at you."

"It has changed how he acts around me, though. I don't know, Annabeth. I don't want to get in the way, but…I really like him. I don't want to say goodbye." Annabeth was no longer looking at Piper, but back out at the ocean, hugging herself tightly against the cold breeze.

"Perfectly understandable," she said quietly.

But it was Piper who understood with perfect clarity what Annabeth was thinking. "I'm your worst nightmare, aren't I? The girl on the other side who falls for your guy."

"He doesn't remember me," Annabeth said, the words bursting out as if they'd been dying to be said. "Look at Jason. He knew what, his first name? Percy and I, we had so much. He was my one constant, the only thing in my life that actually looked like it might be permanent, and now he's gone and I might not ever get him back. Piper, I can't…I can't look at him and see him not recognize me. Not after everything we went through."

"Jason's memory came back," Piper pointed out.

"Not before he met you."

It was gut-wrenching, the fear Annabeth was trying so hard to hide. In a life like theirs, when the likelihood of reaching adulthood was minimal at best, you had to go for what you wanted before you ran out of time. Piper could tell that Annabeth was afraid that her short season of happiness was already over, even if they did get Percy Jackson back. She felt a sharp pang of guilt for troubling Annabeth with her petty problems—especially since her problems were the very things the older girl was dreading so much.

"For the record, thanks for always being so nice to me. You know, all things considered."

At this, Annabeth turned a small smile on Piper, her full attention on her companion at last. "You're not trying to steal my boyfriend. Not that you're actually trying to…you know, steal anyone."

Piper shook her head, partially exasperated but mostly amused. "If this Percy is anything like I've heard, he'd be a complete idiot to let you go."

"He's an idiot alright," Annabeth sighed, "but he's stubborn. I like to think he wouldn't let Hera get the better of him, that maybe he's been hanging on to something, anything about me…" she shook her head wistfully. "Wishful thinking, right?"

"Maybe," Piper shrugged. "But maybe not. There's still the chance that we both come out of this happy, you know."

"You think so?"

The question was more resigned than hopeful, but Piper nodded resolutely. "My mom says I'm good at seeing possibilities, and there is a good one that you'll get him back. You'll see."

Piper had expected Annabeth to scoff or put up a fight, so the response that she got took her by surprise. "I'll hold on to that," Annabeth said quietly. "Thank you."

Silence fell after that, and Piper couldn't help noticing that she felt a little bit better.


	2. Just Making a Call

_**Hazel and Percy both have experience in missing people. What might have happened on the train if Hazel had prompted Percy to talk. Short, sweet, and to the point. Percy's hard to write, guys.**_

_**Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan, clearly!**_

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><p>"Just making a call."<p>

Percy looked a little bit like he'd been punched in the gut, but his expression said that he didn't want to talk about it, so Hazel wisely kept her silence as the three of them boarded the train.

But she couldn't help being a little bit worried. She and Frank had only known Percy for a little while, but she felt as close to him now as she did to Frank, though perhaps in a different way. It was strange to think that Percy had a whole different life somewhere that they didn't know about, one he was apparently starting to remember.

The train pulled out of the station and it wasn't long before Frank was nodding off next to her, so Hazel moved to sit next to Percy. "You must be remembering."

He didn't look too comfortable with the topic, but he didn't shut her out either. "Not everything, but…yeah."

"That's great, Percy. Really."

To her relief, he grinned at her. "It's good, mostly. Drawing a blank got old really fast, and I don't feel so…alone…when I can remember names and faces. But…the timing sucks."

Every step they took north took Percy further away from his friends and family, and there were no guarantees that they would all make it out of this alive. Hazel couldn't imagine how terrible it would feel to finally get everyone you loved back, just in time to lose them again. But if anyone was going to survive this monstrous task ahead of them, it was Percy. "You'll make it back," she said with confidence.

"Yeah, I'd better," he said. "I've got a serious bone to pick with Hera."

_Hera_, not Juno. The Greek terms always had come more naturally to him than the Roman ones. "You really are Greek, then." Percy nodded, looking out the window at the passing landscape. "We thought the Greeks were all dead."

"Well, we had no idea you Romans even existed. Things are different here. The only rules we ever had were don't leave camp and don't get killed."

Something in him came alive when he talked about his old life, and while news of the foreign camp fascinated Hazel, she was more interested in how talking about it helped her friend heal. "I'd like to hear more, sometime."

"I'll take you and Frank there someday," Percy said. "I'd like you to meet my friends."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, during which Hazel's thoughts took her back to New Orleans. Her memories of a boy with curly hair and wild eyes brought back a muted sadness that Hazel thought might be a little of what Percy was feeling. "I had this friend once, when I lived in Louisiana," she said softly. "We spent a lot of time together, and for a while I thought we might…well, he meant a lot to me. When my mother…when we moved, I had to leave him behind, and it hurt. A lot."

"Did you ever see him again?"

Hazel shook her head, surprised at how much easier it was to think about Sammy than it had been just a week ago. "Not once. I thought about him a lot, though. It was hard, at first. But it got better," she offered, her smile gentle as she met Percy's gaze again. "I met new people and was able to move on."

"I'm glad."

He was wearing that expression that she saw when he thought no one was looking, the one that betrayed just how much pain he was hiding from the world. "What is she like?" Hazel asked. "Your Annabeth?"

"Infuriating," Percy said immediately, unable to keep from grinning as he thought back. "She's a genius, and I mean a real genius as far as demigods go. Knows everything and won't let you forget it. She calls me Seaweed Brain." He paused, and Hazel knew that he was grasping at straws, trying to pull anything else out of the fog that still obscured his past. "I know she's saved my life a ton of times. And I know it took me four years and a war with the Titans to work up the courage to tell her how I felt. Only after she took a knife for me and called me a coward though. She's been my best friend, right from the beginning."

"How did you meet?"

"I…I can't remember everything, but I do know that telling you would take a long time."

"We've got a few hours, Jackson. Maybe it would help you remember if you tried to tell me about it."

Percy thought for a moment, obviously lost in a world of confusing memories. "Well, she didn't like me right off the bat. Kind of thought I was useless and unpredictable. Her mom has this age old feud with my dad and she expected us to be completely incompatible."

"What changed?"

Percy grinned. "We went on this quest."

He clearly didn't remember everything, but what he was able to convey had Hazel convinced that the best authors in the world couldn't write a better story than the one her new friend had been living. And it was clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that Percy was in love with his curly-haired, know-it-all friend.


	3. Are You Real?

**_One more angsty one, because I love me some Grover and my heart broke for him when Percy didn't know who he was. This is Grover and Annabeth after they found Percy in his dreams. This is super short, but it made me feel better. Heads up: the fluff is coming next. :)_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. I would be awesome if I did. :) _**

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><p>Annabeth and Grover sat together, alone at a table in the corner of the mess hall. No one bothered them, which was just fine. At the moment, all they really wanted was the comfort of each other's presence.<p>

They'd found him, at last. Grover's empathy link had finally managed to tap into Percy's dreams, which meant there was a really good chance of getting back home. Especially with Tyson on the trail. It was something good for once. Something to celebrate.

But neither Percy's girlfriend, nor his best friend felt much like celebrating. They may have found Percy's body, but it hadn't really been_ him_. Not without his memories.

Annabeth had an arm around the satyr's shoulders, his right hand clutching hers tightly. The poor guy had been working so hard—going on extended searches, desperately fighting to make contact and blaming himself when the empathy link didn't work. Grover had easily suffered as much as Annabeth had, but people only tended to notice _her_ pain. She was Percy's girlfriend. The entire camp had been secretly invested in getting them together long before either of the stubborn teens had been willing to admit that they liked each other. It made sense that they would see her hurt, even when she hid it from them.

But Grover was Percy's best friend. They'd shared an empathy link long before Annabeth had started dating him. And he was taking this separation very hard.

They hadn't needed to say a word, coming out of the dream. One look was all it took. Whatever Percy had said to Grover, it had made it blatantly obvious that he didn't know who—or even what—Grover was, and that _hurt_. Annabeth understood, the way Grover had known she would. The way no one else at camp possibly could. Because when she'd seen him at last and reached out to him in relief, all she'd gotten was a wistful question.

_Are you real?_

Those three words had cut her more deeply than any real wound ever had.

They'd get past this. In a few hours their attention would be needed elsewhere and they'd be able to lose themselves in work again. But for now, Grover and Annabeth simply sat, hurting, understanding, and dealing.


	4. Reunion

_**I feel like I could never do these two justice. This is jumpy and imperfect, but writing it brought the warm fuzzies. I know RR is going to blow this out of the water, but here's my take on their reunion, from Annabeth's perspective.**_

_**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns everything.**_

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><p>Annabeth gripped the railing of the ship so tightly she was sure she'd have splinters. He was there. He was physically <em>there<em>, right in front of her. He was dressed in a toga, surrounded by legions of Roman demigods, but he was alive. She watched him fidget as he looked up at their warship, though the sun was behind them so Annabeth was pretty certain he couldn't see anyone yet. She was grateful for that. This way, she could pretend that he was looking for her.

She knew that was almost too much to hope for. Jason had recovered all of his memories, but he had had the full eight months to do so. Despite all of their efforts, no sign of Percy had been found until a week ago, which made Annabeth think that Hera had kept him out of the way—and thus out of the reach of everyone that cared about him—until she'd needed him. A week ago, he had barely recognized her. The likelihood that he somehow knew her now, that he remembered everything they'd done together, was next to nothing. She'd known that. She thought she'd prepared herself for it, but she realized now that she could never have prepared herself for how horrible this felt. Annabeth refused to cry, not here and especially not in front of him, so she simply gripped the railing all the tighter, ignoring the pain in her fingers.

"That's Percy, isn't it?" Piper asked from Annabeth's right. "I've seen the pictures in the Great House. That's him."

Annabeth merely nodded.

"I have to say, after everything I've heard about this guy, I didn't think he'd be wearing a dress," Leo said from her other side, his grin evident in his tone. "Gutsy."

"It's a toga," Jason explained. "He's the praetor now—it means he's in charge. Juno said we needed to exchange leaders, right?" But he didn't sound too thrilled at the prospect of being replaced.

Annabeth understood what he was feeling. Percy Jackson, the hero of the war against the titans and the head of Camp Half-Blood—as chaotic, unpredictable, and disorganized as anyone could be—did not belong in these orderly ranks of trained soldiers. It was wrong, so wrong, to see him standing down there, with them, wearing purple instead of orange. Looking at him hurt, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. It had been too long since she'd last seen him.

He was frowning now; the sun was behind the sails at last, allowing him the first clear sight of the demigods on board the ship. Annabeth watched him scan the faces of everyone around her, probably searching for something familiar. There were a few campers on board that Percy had known—Clarisee, for one—but there were also plenty of faces on board that he wouldn't recognize after everything he'd missed. Percy reacted to none of them, which wasn't a good sign.

When his eyes found her at last, Annabeth felt a sudden jolt of panic. She wasn't ready. She wasn't prepared to have him look at her without recognizing her. She would never be prepared to be treated like just another camper by the one person in her life that mattered more than anything else.

But then, so unexpectedly that Annabeth thought she must be imagining it, he was smiling. Not just smiling. Beaming with all the radiance of the sun. To her utter shock, his whole face lit up, his mouth unmistakably forming the syllables of her name.

"_Percy?_"she whispered.

Percy Jackson smirked at her in response. It was tainted by the happiness so evident on his face, but it was his trademark smirk nonetheless, and Annabeth knew exactly what it meant.

_Come on, Wise Girl. Who else did you think you'd find?_

Annabeth couldn't help it. She laughed, for the first time in ages. No amount of gripping the rail was going to stop the tears now, but she refused to let go of it. As she smiled down at Percy and he grinned right back, she held onto the ship to keep herself grounded. They had a plan and they'd been over it a hundred times; Jason had done his best to make them understand how suspicious the Romans were. Annabeth got it, she really did. The logical thing to do was to let Jason take the lead and to wait her turn, and Annabeth Chase was nothing if she wasn't logical.

But that was the most infuriating thing about Percy Jackson—when it came to him, all thoughts of logic went out the window. Without that grip on the railing, she'd have been doing whatever it took to get down to him.

The girl next to Percy spoke and Jason replied, his presence sending a ripple of shock through the ranks of Romans. Annabeth assumed they were exchanging traditional greetings and negotiating some kind of temporary treaty, but she didn't actually hear any of it. The gangplank wasn't down yet because they were waiting for permission, which was taking entirely too long to get. Finally, after the girl spoke a few sharp words with a very distracted Percy, the gangplank was lowered and the Greeks were allowed to disembark, with Jason at the front.

Piper had to pry Annabeth's hands from their titanic grip, but she didn't have to speak a word to get the girl moving. Annabeth pushed her way through her fellow campers, which wasn't too hard as most of them understood and simply got out of her way. By the time she got to the top of the gangplank, Percy was waiting for her at the bottom of it.

Annabeth froze, and the whole camp seemed to do the same. Heads were turning their way and conversations were stopping abruptly, but she had forgotten the Romans, forgotten her friends, forgotten everything. The only thing that mattered was Percy Jackson, stupid, stubborn Seaweed Brain with his infuriating, beautiful grin, having the nerve to stand there, alive and well and happy, as if the past eight months hadn't even happened.

"Well?" he asked. "Are you going to come down here or am I going to have to come and get you?"

Annabeth's response was to throw herself down the gangplank and into his arms while the Greeks behind her erupted into cheers.

Her momentum nearly brought both of them to the ground, but Percy managed to keep them steady by lifting Annabeth clear off the ground and backtracking a few steps. He then proceeded to holder her closer and more tightly than he ever had before.

His grip mirrored how Annabeth felt—like if she didn't hold on to him, he'd slip away again, maybe forever this time. She was a mess, and she knew it. She'd dreamed of this, but she hadn't once thought it could actually happen, and the relief and joy that she felt was overpowering. When Percy pulled back enough to look at her again, she was crying unashamedly. He smiled—he had to know how significant it was that she didn't care who saw her like this—and gently brushed her tears away.

"You…" Annabeth fought to get the words out. They were obvious and unintelligent, but they were completely consuming her thoughts, and she knew she wouldn't be able to believe it until he told her himself. "You remember me."

"You seriously thought I could ever forget?" he asked. Before she could respond, Percy took her face in his hands and kissed her. This time, the cheers were laced with cat calls and wolf whistles.

There would be time for introductions and explanations, time for war councils and prophecies and plans, time for the real world and the giants and Gaea. But all of it was going to have to wait just a little bit longer.

Right now, there was time for a young couple to simply _be_.


	5. Jason

_**Time to switch things up a little bit. I know I'm stepping into dangerous territory here, but it is what it is. Jason wonders why Percy Jackson managed to remember something when he had known nothing more than his name.**_

___**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan is the mastermind behind all of this. Where would we be without him?**_

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><p>After just a day of knowing him, Jason thought that he and Percy Jackson could have been friends. He'd been suspicious and unsure about the other boy. From what Reyna had told him, Percy had only shown up a week ago and he had still somehow managed to get himself elected praetor. That was not something Jason thought he could compete with, even with his seniority. But a brief conversation with the guy had managed to set some of Jason's fears to rest. Percy Jackson was powerful, certainly, and stubborn, but he wasn't a threat to Jason or his position at camp. All the guy had wanted was to survive the week so he could get back home—something Jason understood very well—and he seemed more than willing to let Jason have the praetorship back. All in all, Jason thought they would get along just fine.<p>

It helped, of course, that the Greek demigod had a surprising knack for smartmouthing and a dry sense of humor that somehow managed to catch him off guard every single time. In that regard, Percy Jackson was a little like Leo. Just taller and slightly less crazy.

That night, after numerous meetings and formalities, Jason found himself sitting in mess, watching Percy and Annabeth from across the room. Something was bothering Jason, and the longer he watched them, the worse it seemed. The two had been inseparable since that morning's arrival. They were sitting several tables away, hands clasped tightly, talking quietly together—very much lost in their own world. Jason had to admit that he'd never seen two people more suited to each other, but something still wasn't sitting well.

"I haven't ever seen him this happy," Frank said, pulling Jason from his thoughts as he slid into the seat next to him. "It's good, you know. He missed her pretty hard."

Jason remembered that Frank was now a centurion. He had also been in charge of the successful quest to retrieve the fifth cohort's standard, and having traveled with Percy Jackson, probably knew him better than anyone else in the camp.

"Is it true that he never forgot about her?" Jason asked.

Frank shrugged. "He wasn't always clear on the details, but for as long as I've known him, he's known that Annabeth was important to him. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together. Even when we were in Alaska, everything he did there…it was all ultimately so he could get back to her."

Jason frowned. "I don't know how he did it," he said. "I had nothing, Frank. I showed up on a bus with a complete blank. I was Jason—that's all I knew. How is it that he managed to remember anything?"

"Love," Frank shrugged. "Powerful stuff."

"I love people."

"Not like that, I think. Look at them." Jason did, in time to see Annabeth shake her head in exasperation, probably at something Percy had just said. But she couldn't mask the unbelievable relief and joy she felt. In fact, Jason had never seen her like this before—she'd always been so fierce and focused. "That's the real deal," Frank said, a little wistfully. "I'd guess that if you'd loved anyone the way Percy loves Annabeth, you would have remembered them too."

Frank's words made perfect sense—Jason just hadn't been able to figure it out for himself. He remembered his past now, of course. He remembered the fierce warrior he'd been, his praetorship, the "sometimes friends, sometimes more" relationship he'd had with Reyna, depending on what benefitted them the most at the time; but the kind of love that survived the meddling of the gods, the kind where you would do anything found each other again, no matter what obstacles were put in your path? Jason knew with sudden certainty that he'd never felt that way about anyone before.

For some reason, the thought made him sad.

Almost without meaning to, his eyes found Piper. She was sitting with Leo and a girl from the fifth cohort named Hazel. Jason had watched earlier as Leo had tried to get Reyna to join them—it wasn't hard to see that Leo thought Reyna was hot since the guy had a terrible habit of being irrationally attracted to dangerous women—but the other praetor had declined. It had actually been a little funny watching the normally stoic praetor flounder for words, even if it had only lasted for a moment. It was clear from Reyna's startled expression that she had no idea how to handle this kind of attention. Fortunately, Piper had been there to smooth things over. She hadn't said much to him since they had landed, and Jason couldn't help noticing that she seemed a little sad.

If anyone had gotten the rotten end of this whole deal, it was Piper. Percy and Annabeth had been reunited and Jason had found his old life again. But Piper had been left with a handful of happy, fake memories that clearly caused her a lot of distress.

Things between them had been tense lately, and it was mostly Jason's fault. He knew how Piper felt about him, even now, and he knew that her feelings weren't entirely her fault. Juno had given her no choice but to fall for him. In a normal life, a relationship with Piper would have been exactly what Jason wanted. She was the kind of girl that he would have had no trouble going for. She was spunky, she didn't care what others thought, and she was quite frankly the prettiest girl he knew, which was saying something.

But this was his real life, and things were trickier. At first, he had brushed it aside because he couldn't remember his past. How could he commit to someone when he didn't know who he really was? It wasn't fair to either of them. But his memories had returned and things had gotten more complicated. Reyna wasn't his girlfriend, per se, but there had been political considerations, and he couldn't deny that he cared for the other praetor. For a while he'd wondered if Piper's feelings were even real, or if they were just the residue of Juno's meddling. Then there was the whole Greek/Roman issue. Their people had fought for centuries, so much so that the gods had forced them to forget about each other. A relationship between Piper and Jason was doomed to tragedy, wasn't it?

But somehow, listening to Frank talk about love and seeing how strong the connection between Percy and Annabeth was, Jason couldn't bring himself to care so much about the problems. The number one reason why he had avoided starting anything with Piper had been his fear that he would end up hurting someone he cared for on the other side. But as Frank had pointed out, he clearly hadn't loved anyone that way before being sent to the Greeks.

This couldn't go on. He had a job to do, and if he wasn't focused, things could go badly. Jason resolved to end this as soon as possible. His mind was mostly made up, anyway.

But he had to talk to Reyna first.


	6. Memories

**_Words. This is a bunch of words. Pretty sure I'm not as happy with it as I could be, but that's life. This is mostly the conversation that Percy and Annabeth are having while Frank and Jason have their little heart to heart._**

**_Before I go, I just wanted to thank everyone who has bothered to review, fave, alert, or even just read this random little group of scenes. I know they're incoherent at times, but I do try. You know, usually. :) I really appreciate every one of you!_**

**_Disclaimer: Fortunately, especially after this, I am NOT actually in charge of writing MoA. Rick Riordan is my hero._**

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><p>Percy hadn't let go of her yet. An entire day had passed and Annabeth hadn't been allowed more than a foot away from him, not that she minded. She finally had him back! She probably couldn't have forced herself to leave his side, even if he'd asked her to. There had been introductions and war councils and meals, and through it all Percy's arm had been around her, or his hand had held hers tightly. She wasn't paying much attention to the people around her, but she had managed to notice that Reyna, the Roman leader who was wearing purple bed sheets, seemed a little put off by her presence.<p>

"That's just Reyna," Percy explained when Annabeth pointed this out. "She's all right, but she's not the most welcoming person. Probably doesn't help that she hated us for years, though."

"The Greeks?" Annabeth asked.

"No, you and me." Percy rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, somehow managing to look contrite. "She lived on Circe's island when we passed through. We kind of left her and her sister at the mercy of the pirates."

Annabeth thought that definitely merited a little cool treatment. "That's…awful."

Their attention was quickly grabbed by more Roman officials, but Annabeth made a mental note to apologize to Reyna at the next available opportunity.

It wasn't until the day was almost over that the flurry of activity died down. Percy had risen in the Roman ranks very quickly and was something of a celebrity at Camp Jupiter—nearly everyone they ran into wanted some of his attention. By the time the sun had set, the excitement of the day had worn down a bit and they were able to find a quiet table in the mess where they were left more or less to themselves.

At long last, Annabeth was able to ask the question that had been bugging her almost all day. "You do realize that you're wearing a toga, right?"

"It's a Roman thing," Percy grinned. "They're all about rules here; I didn't have much choice once they elected me as praetor." He looked down at himself skeptically. "I know purple's not really my color, either."

"I don't know," Annabeth teased. "I think you look kind of hot."

"You're not a man if you can't make a sheet-dress look good."

The heavy sarcasm was tempered by his smile, which Annabeth could not get enough of. She'd taken all of it for granted: his smile, his sense of humor, even the way he drove her absolutely crazy. She needed it all, no matter how much she grumbled or teased, and she still couldn't quite believe that she'd gotten him back.

For the first time since they had met that morning, Annabeth kissed him, lingering as long as she dared in a room that was still moderately full of people.

"Yeah, I probably deserved that," Percy said when they parted, both still smiling.

Annabeth couldn't resist a soft laugh. "You think you're so irresistible, Seaweed Brain?"

"Nah." Percy wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close; Annabeth was only too happy to curl up next to him. "It's just your favorite way of telling me that I'm saying something really stupid and need to shut up. That's one of the very first things I remembered about you."

"That I kiss you when you're being dumb?"

"Mostly that you've done it a lot." His grin was audible.

"You've got yourself the best girlfriend in the world, Percy," Annabeth grumbled.

"I know." It was one of those rare moments when he was being completely serious. Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder contentedly, reaching over to claim his free hand.

"You weren't being dumb. I just…realized how much I missed you, all over again." She toyed with his hand absentmindedly. "I thought for sure you weren't going to know who I was."

"You were the only one I _could_ remember."

"You're not just saying that, are you?" Annabeth asked. "Jason knew his first name and nothing else. Hera wiped his mind completely. And yet you somehow managed to hold onto me?"

"You're not easy to forget, Wise Girl," Percy teased. "You leave quite the impression."

"Ha ha," Annabeth shouldered him lightly.

"I don't know," Percy went on. "I forgot everything else, but not you. Hera gave me a choice, you know, before I even got here. Something about disappearing into the ocean and surviving on my own, or carrying her across the river and suffering. She said the only way I'd see you again was to suffer."

"You had the option of living forever in the ocean and you chose to suffer instead?"

"If it meant getting you back."

"Stubborn." But Annabeth couldn't bite back the smile.

Percy's grip on her tightened. "I didn't know who or where you were, but I knew you were important to me. More important than anything else. I missed you, Annabeth."

She looked up at him, drinking the sight in. "Yeah, I know."

"It's not like you to work yourself up over stuff like this," Percy commented

Annabeth shuddered. "It wasn't so much that you'd forgotten, it was who else you might have met when you didn't remember me. You met Piper today—she's head of Aphrodite cabin now."

"Brown hair, braids? Yeah, she's kinda tomboyish for Aphrodite."

"That's her. When Jason showed up, he was planted in her life. Hera gave her fake memories of this whole life she'd had with him. She thought they'd been dating for months, but Jason didn't remember any of it. They've been dancing around each other all this time because he was afraid of hurting someone he couldn't remember. Watching all of that going on, I just…it was so easy to imagine it happening to you and me."

"Hey." Percy shifted so she could look straight at him. "I promise, nothing like that happened to me. Hera kept me asleep until she needed me, which meant until the very last second. She seems to think I'm a bit of a loose cannon."

"Well I wonder where she got that idea?"

"The point is this is that you anchored me to my real life. Again." He was thinking about the River Styx. "After everything we've done and been through together, I don't think I _could_ forget you. You get that…that I love you, right?"

Fighting back tears, Annabeth buried her face in his shoulder. "I love you too." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Don't _ever_ do this again."


End file.
